Man Who Bilked Seniors Is Sentenced

A Santa Ana man who admitted selling thousands of dollars in bogus cremation policies to Ventura County senior citizens was sentenced Friday to six years in state prison.

Irwin Karp, 63, also was ordered by a judge to pay $73,000 in restitution to 70 local residents, or in the case of those who have already passed away, to their families. Eight surviving policy holders appeared in court to watch the sentence handed down.

“They expressed some satisfaction that at least he was held accountable,” Deputy Dist. Atty Audry Rohn said. “They’d like their money back.”

Karp pleaded guilty last month to 16 charges of grand theft, stemming from bogus policies he sold in 1993 and 1994.

Superior Court Judge Art Gutierrez had once considered accepting a plea agreement that would have limited Karp’s sentence to probation if he pleaded guilty. But Gutierrez withdrew the agreement after hearing details of how elderly victims were cheated. Karp ultimately chose to plead guilty anyway, rather than proceed with a trial.

The way Karp’s $1,000 policies were supposed to work was that half of the money would be used for administrative costs and the other half would be placed in a trust, earning sufficient interest over time to pay for the cremation.

But when family members began trying to collect on their deceased relatives’ policies, they learned the money was gone.

Karp is believed to have sold as many as 200 policies throughout the state, and he remains under investigation by authorities in San Bernardino County, Rohn said.